Students who are reluctant writers tend to because they don’t think they’re very good at it. Because they don’t think they’re very good at it, they don’t enjoy doing it. You can reverse this vicious cycle and transform avowed non-writers into passionate writers by using the following strategies for encouraging reluctant writers.
Exposure- Expose students to outstanding writing and the writers who create it. Read a variety of literature representing different genres, forms and modes to students. Take students to book signings, book talks, poetry readings and other events where they can be exposed to real writers.
Oral Storytelling-Allow students to create first drafts by telling stories orally, recording them and transcribing the recordings.
Dramatization-Let groups of students perform student-written work as staged readings or mini-productions.
Mentor Texts-Provide examples mentor texts representing a wide variety of genres, forms and modes that your students can use to emulate various aspects of writer’s craft.
Writing Partners-Permit students to self-select partners and small groups to share writing and exchange feedback with.
Seed Notebooks-Require students to use seed notebooks to record ideas for writing project and experiment with writing. Drafting will not be done in the seed notebooks.
Journaling-Ask students to keep journals or diaries to record their thoughts, connect with their feelings and, perhaps, find inspiration for their writing.
Read-Read a wide variety of texts representing myriad genres, forms and modes to your writing. Expose them to outstanding writing. Analyze the texts with your students. Help them understand how writers use craft to create experiences for readers. Have them practice using writer’s craft to create experiences for their own intended readers.
Share Your Writing-Read your own writing to students. Sharing your writing with students with encourage them to write…and to share their writing with you.
Story Starters-Provide story starters to help get students writing. Story starters are beginnings of stories that can be as short as one line or as long as a paragraph. After students have supplied a middle and end to the story, they can revise the beginning to “make it their own.”
Story Endings-Like story starters, story endings can help students who are stuck in the writing process. Teacher-supplied story endings can be used as a “first draft” ending that students can revise after completing the writing process. The purpose of supplying pre-packaged story components is to help students get “unstuck” and move ahead with the writing process.
Text Prompts-Text prompts make excellent additions to writing and literacy centers. Text-based writing prompts can be used to support students who need guidance in generating ideas for writing.
Photo Prompts-Photo prompts serve the same purpose as text prompts, but are used to support students who are visual learners.
Object Prompts-Object prompts serve the same purpose as text prompts, but are used to support tactile learners.
Idea Garden-Have students contribute to an “idea garden” consisting of “seeds” for potential writing projects. The idea garden could take the form of a display of cut-out plants that have snippets of dialogue, interesting quotes, cool names, song lyrics…anything that might serve as inspiration for potential writing projects.
Writing Process Instruction-Teach students about the writing process and expose them to the strategies professional writers use. Ralph Fletcher’s books are excellent resources for teaching students the writing process.
